Hugo & Nebula Awards: Best Novels discussion

Welcome and greetings to all the new members! I've written down a few basic rules and suggestions regarding putting forward titles for the group's Monthly Read. I suppose that some of these will be subjected to changes, depending on the amount of active members and other variables.

Here they are, in no particular order to them:

- A nominated title must belong to the group's To-read list, no matter whether it is a Hugo or a Nebula, unless otherwise specified.

- Each member is welcome (but not obliged) to forward a title for our Monthly Reads.

- A poll will be compiled by a moderator at least a week before the month is out, for members to vote on.

- Two titles that get the most votes will be announced as the Monthly Reads.

- Titles that belong to longer series will be discussed extensively in order to determine which of the books that never won any awards are essential prerequisites to enjoy the award-winning titles from the same series. The results of the research will be posted in this thread:
Group Series Guide

- Themed nominations will be announced in advance, members are more than welcome to suggest any particular theme, I am sure we'll get around to covering all the suggestions. Check out Group's Bookshelf in order to get acquainted with various themes and genres we are using for our monthly nominations:
Group Bookshelf

- An bit of extra information regarding series that will be group-read. Some of the award-winning titles cannot be truly appreciated without having read all the prequels, therefore we have an extra bookshelf with all the "related works". I will update it only with the books that are related to the Monthly Reads, so that the members can see what other related works are in that particular series.

- Members that complete our Group Challenge can purchase Enhanced Nomination Credits which can be used to bypass the voting stage. ENC use will be on "first come first served" basis and all you have to do to use it (once you've earned it) is to leave a comment in the Monthly Read Poll or the appropriate nomination thread, stating that you are invoking your ENC privileges. Various Challenges will yield different rewards, a longer challenge might have multpile ENCs as rewards.

I guess additional rule should be about time period if our goal is to read all (is it?). Because otherwise I guess people will concentrate on newer books
So something akin a months with nominations for 1950s-60s, 70s, 80s... and each month a new period

That is one idea that I imagine everyone will support, themed monthly reads are great way to break routine. Those do not have to be limited to publication years, other themes can also be thrown into the mix.

In either case, a great suggestion right there.

Oleksandr wrote: "I guess additional rule should be about time period if our goal is to read all (is it?). Because otherwise I guess people will concentrate on newer books
So something akin a months with nominations..."


Thanks for the suggestion.
Added and updated.

Don't forget to take the poll to decide nominations of what genre you would like to see in May!

Starting next month we will have Upcoming Reads announced a month before they become our Monthly Reads. This way everyone will have a month to get their purchases and library loans in advance and join in on our discussions.

This month's poll determines two months worth of nominations (and closes on 30th) so don't forget to cast one regular vote and leave your second vote in the comments section.

I am so glad you are setting the books further out. Thank you.

Kateblue wrote: "I am so glad you are setting the books further out. Thank you."

Only too happy to be of help. We sorely missed your chipping in on the discussion of one of the monthly reads, something that could be avoided had we announced it being our upcoming read a month ahead.

I believe that once we will start running out of books we own, and therefore nominate, we will all appreciate that extra month of notice

*Updated*

Added a few words regarding ENCs and how they relate to our regular upcoming reads nominations.

Every once in a while there is a tie for one of the Monthly Reads, in order to avoid extra rounds of voting, polls and conferring between the moderators, we've just decided to use a website called www.Random.org to make rolls on tied books.

This month's winner in Hugo category was decided using this very method.

I'm seeing only one upcoming book for June: Blackfish City.

Antti wrote: "I'm seeing only one upcoming book for June: Blackfish City."

Thank you, there was a mistake with the set date. Fixed now.

Monthly Read threads and Upcoming Reads are online. Sorry for the delay, everyone.

Is the Birthday Challenge going to be a permanent feature? Because if so, that means in effect that the group has three monthly reads instead of two. This sounds a bit much, IMO.

If we want to preserve the Birthday Challenge (and for the record, I'm not advocating for this option), we should consider only picking one Monthly Read.

The other option would be to reserve the Birthday Challenge only for the occasions when an author turns e.g. 50, 75 or 100 years old.

Antti wrote: "Is the Birthday Challenge going to be a permanent feature?"

I'll be a challenge-like optional reading, aimed chiefly to people who:
- are unable or uninterested in getting monthly books (e.g. already have read them)
- are interested to read more of N/H nominees in a company

Nothing in the group is mandatory, so it all depends on popular demand for this or that reading opportunity.

I was thinking maybe we should do it quarterly.

Oleksandr: Naturally this is all voluntary, but there is the question of the quality and quantity of discussions, as well.

If I just want to read books, I can do that on my own. A book club is valuable because it gives you an opportunity to discuss those books, as well.

If there are too many books per month, most people will not be able to read them all, which means they won't be able to participate on discussions about those books they had to skip. And that means there are fewer comments per book, less lively discussion, fewer points of view &c.

I fully agree, Antti! However, we have also situations, when people are unable to get monthly reads but want to discuss a book, so there ought to be an alternative. In this case the total number of posts can be higher and additional posts in a sideway discussion are not a cause for a drop in monthly one. It is a precarious balance and I agree that it can go wrong in so many ways... that's why it is essential to get a feedback from the members

Kateblue wrote: "I was thinking maybe we should do it quarterly."

I think this would be a great idea! I agree with Antti that the discussion is what's important, and personally I'm quite happy to pick up older discussion threads as they will almost always still be relevant.

While I will always advocate for more challenges (because I think they are fun and see them as optional), a 1-month turnaround for buying/borrowing a specific book, finishing it, then finding time to join discussion about it... it's a lot for most people. Especially when prioritising the official group reads.

I think the best way is to play it by ear. Not enough participants in a challenge --> make it longer, make it easier, make it more interactive, change things up, rotate through different kinds of challenges, change the goals, change the rewards... the group is constantly changing, and its members lives are in flux, so there can be no hard rules for what will always work.

I agree, Sarah, that the rules for challenges can be different and change if necessary.

I also think the author's challenges are hard to do because of the shortness of the time period allowed.

Hi guys, starting this month we will be trying assigning a discussion leader to the Monthly Reads. The criteria to meet for that are very straightforward:

- a member or a moderator may be a Discussion Leader for any of the titles we read.
- a Discussion Leader is strongly advised to have read the Monthly Read in the past couple of years. Unless they are so familiar with the book and are confident in remembering all the events.
- a Discussion Leader is advised to follow the discussion more closely and prompt a few questions about the book.

If you are interested in becoming the discussion leader for any of the upcoming reads, feel free to PM a mod or just drop a line in this thread.

If no one else takes it, I can do The Windup Girl.

Ryan wrote: "If no one else takes it, I can do The Windup Girl."

Great!

Next month's reads are:

Bellwether and Man Plus.

Is anybody interested in leading the discussions on either of those?

Nope, sorry! Lack of time and inclination!

Not sure if we need leaders, but we can all encourage discussion in the threads. I read both last month, when a fortuitous moment came up, so they’re both pretty fresh.

Ryan did a wonderful job with The Windup Girl, looking forward to seeing more discussion leaders popping up!

Art wrote: "Next month's reads are:

Bellwether and Man Plus.

Is anybody interested in leading the discussions on either of those?"
If you still need a leader for "Bellwether" I think I could do that one.

Thanks, Kristen!

Thank you Kristen for leading the discussion thread for Bellwether, you've earned yourself some group points!

Our next month's reads are The Calculating Stars and The Accidental Time Machine.

If anybody is interested in leading either of the discussions, let us know!

I'm volunteering for The Calculating Stars.

If anyone is interested in leading the other , please let me know.

edit: never mind. I see the thread has already begun.

Just a quick update for all the members, in order for me to send out poll alerts I have two choices, to click through 900 members and tick on every single one of you. The alternative is my inviting all of my friends who are in the group to take the poll.

Now the half of you are already in my friend list, I'll send out friend invites to some of you, if you feel like it, accept it not, I will do my best to try and include you in every upcoming poll.

Oh man, totally thought we were already friends! Glad we are now. :-)

Art wrote: "Just a quick update for all the members, in order for me to send out poll alerts I have two choices, to click through 900 members and tick on every single one of you. The alternative is my inviting all of my friends who are in the group to take the poll."

What a work, Art!
Probably most of us don't even realize it takes so much effort. Thank you ;-)

Goodreads is an old platform! We always have to look for workarounds. Luckily we have a mod forum where we can discuss it.

Art wrote: "Goodreads is an old platform! We always have to look for workarounds."
Apparently ;-)

Art wrote: "Luckily we have a mod forum where we can discuss it."
That's a good thing indeed!
And it was also a good idea to draw the attention to the fact that you have to be so cumbersome in some situations. That way the members become even more conscious of all the work you mods do behind the scenes ;-)

Art wrote: "Goodreads is an old platform! We always have to look for workarounds."

*grumbles something about richest company in the world*

These comments explain the absolute massive Artfriendwave I saw in my feed a little while ago. :)

Kalin wrote: "*grumbles something about richest company in the world*"

Right?!
Bezos could've chucked a mil or two at goodreads

I'm pretty sure some young programmer kid could be convinced to add a "send to all group members" message function for mods for 500 bucks. But I think Amazon wouldn't consider spending even that much until we all together agree to switch platforms.

Thank you so much for all you do, Art!

Eva wrote: "I'm pretty sure some young programmer kid could be convinced to add a "send to all group members" message function for mods for 500 bucks.."

That function exist, but it literally sends to all members. Mods want to send to active members only, for otherwise people, who don't discuss can skew our poll results - so that active members get monthly reads he majority of them not interested in

Kalin wrote: "These comments explain the absolute massive Artfriendwave I saw in my feed a little while ago. :)"

Well said, Kalin :-D

Eva wrote: "But I think Amazon wouldn't consider spending even that much until we all together agree to switch platforms."

As Goodreads is relatively new to me, I didn't know a lot of the history of this website.
But last I read somewhere about
Off-Topic: The Story of an Internet Revolt.
Put it on my TBR-list immediately ;-)

Oleksandr wrote: "Mods want to send to active members only, for otherwise people, who don't discuss can skew our poll results - so that active members get monthly reads he majority of them not interested in "

That's a good idea of you mods!
The active members appreciate this ;-)

Ah, I see - good idea to limit the polls a bit!

I’m trying to get my programmer husband to create a platform to compete with good reads. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Goodreads has so many issues. My pet peeve lately is how the second to last line is alway missing on posts when I’m using the phone app. Everyone has that problem, right? It isn’t just me?

Kristen wrote: "I’m trying to get my programmer husband to create a platform to compete with good reads. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Goodreads has so many issues. My pet peeve lately is how the second to last line is alway missing on p..."

I can't stress it enough, when using your phone just scroll all the way to the bottom and click on "Desktop Version". That will save you a lot of getting and if your phone has a nice screen you will be able to browse without any trouble.

Actually there are alternatives to GoodReads, e.g. Library Thing https://www.librarything.com/ that had some features GR lacks. But there is a problem that this site dominates the market and potential members in a bandwagon effect prefer sites with more members

Kristen wrote: Everyone has that problem, right? It isn’t just me?"

As I don't have a smartphone, I can't confirm/deny your problem.
But it seems that Art knows more about this ;-)

Oleksandr wrote: "Actually there are alternatives to GoodReads, e.g. Library Thing https://www.librarything.com/ that had some features GR lacks."
Kristen wrote: "I’m trying to get my programmer husband to create a platform to compete with good reads. 🤷🏻‍♀️"

Already heard about this website, Oleksandr, but at first sight it seems less appealing (and intuitive) than GR.
But if Kristen's husband ever develops an alternative, I'm definitively in to try it out ;-D

Yeah, I'll let you know if he does anything. It seems like a big project.

Art wrote: "....when using your phone just scroll all the way to the bottom and click on "Desktop Version"..."

I see this only if I'm using my phone browser, not the app. The app is the one giving us the issues - cutting off sentences and not being able to access polls and shelves easily.

Polls are up for December! No nominations this month, we are choosing two books from previous nominations: the first from the Close Calls, determined by runners-up that had 20% of the vote or more; and the second from the Biggest Losers, those books that garnered the fewest votes in earlier polls this year. Many good choices in these two lists!